Student at Covington Catholic – Whose Students Mocked a Native American – Accused of Rape

Jake Walter, known locally as a standout athlete at Covington Catholic High School in the Cincinnati suburb of Covington, Kentucky, was arrested for allegedly raping a young woman.

The arrest happened in December after a report was filed against Walter in regard to the alleged rape, which took place in Boone County, Kentucky. According to Cincinnati news outlet WCPO, Jake Walter was charged with three felonies — one rape charge and two sodomy charges.

According to the sheriff’s department, Walter repeatedly assaulted and choked the 18-year-old victim, ignoring her pleas to stop. The news release also stated the victim was afraid to have sex with Walter because of his size: He stands 7 feet tall and weighs 300 pounds.

“Walter dismissed the victim by laughing at her and telling her that she would be fine,” Sgt. Philip Ridgell wrote in the release.

However, this wasn’t Walter’s first arrest for sex crimes. In May of 2018, just before he turned 18 years old, Walter was ordered to register as a juvenile sex offender following another incident in which a young woman accused him of raping her. A local judge required that Walter remain in community placement with the Department of Juvenile Justice following the emergence of a recorded phone call the victim provided, in which Walter admitted to the rape.

Covington Catholic itself is in the spotlight following a viral video posted to social media showing a crowd of students mocking Nathan Philips, a Native American elder of the Omaha tribe and a Vietnam War veteran, while he was playing a drum on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Nearly all of the Covington Catholic students are seen wearing red “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) hats — the ubiquitous symbol of supporters of President Trump. Students were in Washington, DC to attend Friday’s March for Life — an annual event supported by conservative evangelicals seeking to make it illegal for women to get abortions.

Nathan Phillips, a Vietnam veteran, stood dignified and unbowed in the literal face of white aggression. As expected. The MAGA hats make it easier to see, but this is older than Trump and his flock. It isn’t “kids being kids.” It is America being America. pic.twitter.com/udHYot6EGZ

“I heard them saying ‘build that wall, build that wall,’ ” Philips said of the incident, in which the students in MAGA hats were referencing Trump’s proposed border wall with Mexico. “These are indigenous lands. You’re not supposed to have walls here. We never did… We took care of our elders, we took care of our children. We taught them right from wrong.”

Many on Twitter made comparisons between the students of Covington Catholic High School — which is an all-male private Catholic institution — and Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh, who also went to an all-male, private, Catholic high school (Georgetown Preparatory Academy). The fact that Walter and Kavanaugh were both high school athletes at private Catholic schools accused of rape was not lost on social media.

The actions of the Covington Catholic students spawned the hashtag #ExposeCatholicSchools on Saturday afternoon. Some are even calling on the school’s corporate sponsors to pull their support of the institution.

A group of Covington Catholic boys on a school trip surrounded and harassed a group of Native American protesters and mocked them with racist insults.

Following the backlash on social media, the school deleted its Facebook page and made its Twitter account private. As of this writing, no official apology to Nathan Philips has yet been made from school administrators. This article will be updated in the event of a statement.

Tom Cahill is a contributor for Grit Post who covers political and economic news. He lives in Bend, Oregon. Send him an email at tom DOT v DOT cahill AT gmail DOT com.

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